Bomb suspect told family he was on 'confidential project'

BANGALORE: Kafeel Ahmed arrested in connection with attempted bomb attacks in Britain told his family that he was working on a "large-scale confidential project," a press report said on Friday.    

Kafeel Ahmed, an aeronautical engineer with a doctorate from Britain, was one of the men detained after driving a blazing car into Glasgow airport. He is currently being treated for serious burns.  "I am involved in a large-scale confidential project. It is about global warming. I cannot reveal the details," he told his family in Bangalore, before leaving for Britain in May.   

"It involves a lot of travelling... the project has to be started in the United Kingdom," he was also reported to have said. "Various people from various countries are involved in this."   

On June 30 -- the day after two car bombs in London were discovered and defused and just prior to the Glasgow attack -- Ahmed told his family in India that his "earlier presentation failed" and asked them to pray for him..   

Ahmed, whose first name has also been reported as being Khalid, has been identified as the elder brother of Sabeel Ahmed, an Indian doctor who has also been held in connection with the bombing plot.   

A third Indian from Bangalore, Mohammed Haneef, was held in Australia in connection with the conspiracy as he prepared to leave on a one-way ticket for India via Malaysia. He is a cousin of the Ahmed brothers, family sources said.